edinboro edinboro. that's what's making news in america this morning. >> have a terrific thursday, everybody. thanks for watching. >> live and in hd, this is "good morning washington" on your ide. >> the nfl and the referee union met a tentative agreement. referees will return to the field tonight. it is thursday, september 27. i am cynne simpson. >> we have a few showers and thunderstorms on our live radar. mostly up by the mason dixon line. we are getting some flashes near frederick and westminster.

this will move it through pretty quickly. we will see a late morning start like yesterday. look at the temperatures. once again we are in the 60's. one more day with a high temperature five or 10 degrees above average. we do have to keep the chance of rain late today. some changes in the week and forecasts that we will tell you about and a little bit. >> good morning, everyone. we are starting with not so good news for motorists who travel through silver spring on university boulevard. we are should down on university boulevard in both directions. two utility poles are down as a result of a crash. if you are trying to watch out for overnight construction not too bad of the beltway. we have the one the lane closed at you go over the northwest bridge. in virginia not too bad in

springfield on the beltway to 66. you will need to stay to the left until that is clear. >> now we move on to our top story. relief for nfl coaches players and the fans. a tentative agreement has been reached to end a lockout that began in june. >> the regular referee is will work tonight between the baltimore ravens and the browns. >> the deal is done. >> regular nfl officials returned to work tonight after a tentative agreement to end of the lockout that began in june. the officials in union still needs to approve the deal, but the commissioner lifted the lockout so the referees can call tonight's game in baltimore. in a statement the commissioner said --

this is shocking finished to monday oppose the game might have been the breaking point. -- shocking finish to monday's game might have been the breaking point. they called what looked like an interception a touchdown. >> beyond you and i and the sports world, this went to the today show, good morning america. >> it brought a renewed sense of urgency to strike a deal. this morning nfl players welcomed the referee is returned. -- referees return.

>> the nfl will get to hire a bunch of officials they can hire to replace underproducing referee is. >> after the game, he used a curse word and a tweet about how his team was robbed. he said the nfl can find him and use the money to pay the regular refs. it broke the twitter record when it surpassed 98,000 retweets. the nfl says they will not levy any type of punishment. tonight is sure to be another emotional game for baltimore ravens wide receiver smith. >> his brother was killed in a

motorcycle accident saturday night. the next day he decided to play against the patriots. he made six catches and two touchdowns. flowers and donations can be made to the kevin jones memorial scholarship fund. >> virginia is the focus of the presidential campaign. >> president obama and mitt romney will make stops in the commonwealth today. and romney's at he speaks directly to the camera demonstrating he does care about the concerns of average americans. >> the man at mitt romney is trying to replace will campaign in virginia beach this morning. an ad is airing in several battleground states including

virginia ohio, and florida. >> 4:35 is the time ran out. a former manassas school employees pleaded guilty. the one hand to spend 20-30 years in jail after admitting to molesting at least eight boys. >> three people are in custody with connection of last month's beating. police have arrested 21-year- old . a crime spree they went on surely after the attack helped them make the arrests. his wife issued a statement. it says --

and business news, student loan debt continues to spiral out of control. >> a preview of the trading day ahead. >> we are keeping a close things going on overseas. china may announce stimulus measures to boost their economy while spain was a government is expected to present their budget for the next year. -- spain's government will present their budget for the next year. on top of jobs, on top of kohl's hiring push, they have created 1500 jobs in 10 states. two new stores will open in the washington area.

the burden of student loan debt is getting worse. when you factor in tuition costs and raise borrowing limits, nearly one in five households have student loan debt in 2010. that is more than twice the level compared to 1989. this is according to a report from the pure research center that shows the average that was more than $27,000. more starbucks fans are looking to brew their lattes at home. that is coming up in the hour. >> 4:30 a right now and 56 degrees. >> still to come, bad news

>> there has been a decision on pepco's request for a rate increase. if they had approve the entire amount, the typical customer would have to pay $5.20 more each month. instead they will pay about $2.60 more. the rate increase set to take place next month. >> pepco workers are closer to going on strike. the union has overwhelmingly rejected what the company called their final offer. the main sticking point is a

chance to the health and plan. >> we want to check in with jacqui jeras >> we have some pretty strong thunderstorms to the north right now. trying to sneak into montgomery county just a little bit. we are seeing a lot of lightning on that map. the storms are pushing off to the east of this time. there are not severe. if you do have the time try to wait until the storms pass before you move on out. we are seeing that out near westminster and to the north as well. the temperatures are warm right now. 69 at reagan national. it will be another one day with temperatures in the 80's. we will see showers and under storms this morning and again late today.

we do have some changes in the seven-day forecast. >> good morning, everyone. we have a couple of alternate routes to they want to keep in mind if heading out this morning. the crash rehabing following is on university boulevard. we are shut down -- the crash we have been following is on university boulevard. it involves a car into two utility poles. you may want to opt for cofield road. in the meantime we are checking your overnight construction work sounds. we are looking pretty good northbound on i-95 as you had to 395. southbound heading toward fredericksburg your two left lanes are shut down. that is the latest in traffic. >> d.c. residents will get a chance to speak out about plans

to expand a rail tunnel in southeast. >> this is before making a final decision on expanding the tunnel. the winter expanded to allow more trains to pass through. the meeting will be held from 6:00 until 8:00 at the capitol skyline hotel in southwest. >> commuters to ride on buses will be able to tell how they feel about changing bus routes. officials want to change seven routes to serve areas that have recently been developed and eliminate routes that are underperforming. it is 4:44 and 66 degrees. >> coming up, an emotional day emotional theherndon.

>> police are investigating a shooting in gaithersburg that sent one man to the hospital. they say the man walked into a cvs after being shot several times. there is still no word on his condition. police are searching for a man who assaulted and robbed another man in downtown washington. it was at the intersection of 19th and l street. the gun fired and nobody was hit. >> a distraught herndon community is coming together to remember a family killed in a murder-suicide. police say their father shot and killed them and their mother and then killed himself. their bodies were found tuesday at their home. >> several hours after the

assault took place around 3:00 in the morning, there was an armed robbery of three victims and three suspects. >> that was the chief talking about something else. investigators have not said what they thought -- investigators have not said what they think prompted albert to kill his family. >> police and the johnson family members will hold a news conference today. she tried to cross the parkway. park police are offering a reward for any information that helps solve the case. >> the future of the martin luther king memorial library will be the focus of a roundtable today. it is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

the meeting will focus on how they library might be renovated or redesign to better serve the public. >> today is national hiv awareness and day. free hiv testing. the executive director says one and seven gay or bisexual men in d.c. has hiv. nearly one in four people who have hiv do not know they have it. you can log onto our web site wjla.com. is coming up and some top health officials will hold a news conference at at what we can expect this flu season. they will encourage people to get their full shots. the veterans affairs department is doing their part to help women veterans. they will hold a health expo outside of the d.c.

headquarters today. it is aimed at tackling hard disease, the number one killer of women. -- heart disease the number one killer of women. it is 4:51 and 56 degrees. >> madonna qualifying some controversial comments she made

>> welcome back. time to go to jacqui jeras. >> take a look at the doppler radar in the weather center. everything is really a long i 70 and up to the north of there. we will resume in and show you how the storms are progressing off to the east slowly. it is an east westminster and southern parts of pennsylvania. we do expect the day to be book ended with showers and storms. we will have periods like this today where it was really nice. the weekend is looking a little better. cooler fall like temperatures will be back. >> a check on th an early look at i-66 a nice

smooth commute so far on the way to the capital beltway. looking pretty good on leesburg pike and dulles tollroads. no closures for any reasons in that area. but we do have a closure in the maryland on university boulevard at dennis avenue. we are shut down in both directions. we have wires and two utility poles down. that may be a defect for some time. we will keep you posted. >> madonna is clarifying her reference to president obama as a muslim at the concert at the verizon center. following the backlash over her comment, she said she was mocking right-wing factions to believe the president is a follower of islam.

she says she thinks the president is a good man a matter who he prays to. >> tonight the return of "gray's anatomy" and "scandal." >> we have a sneak peek of what is ahead. >> it would just get crazier and crazier as the episode go on. stay tuned. >> that is at 10:00 followed by abc news said 11:00. >> we are giving away gift baskets with $200 worth of prizes including showed dvd is. you have until 6:00 a.m. we will announce the winner today and tomorrow during the 6:00 hour of good morning washington. >> still ahead, bracing for

carmaggedon 2 in california.

>> coming up, a huge victory for those who were not happy with the nfl replacement refs.